Vehicle drive-axle



sufra VEHICLE DRIVE-AXLE incasso.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I', ALANsoN P. BRUSH, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vehicle Drive-Axles, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

rhe invention relates to vehicle drive axles of that type in which the wheels are driven from a jack-shaft through the medium of intermeshing gears or other transmission. It is one of theobjects of the invention to obtain a vconstruction which permits of removing the wheel without the driving gear therefor, thereby avoiding thenecessity of opening the gear housing or draining off the lubricant therefrom. It is a further object to centrally support the gear in the plane of the teeth thereof; further to provide for the independent.removal of the jacksliaft; and still further, toobtain various advantages of construction as hereinafter set forth.

in the drawings: Y

Figure l is a longitudinal sectionV through the axle in the plane of the jack-shaft;

F ig. 2 is an end elevation thereof.

ln the present state of the art, axles of the type above referred'to have been provided with various forms of intermediate driving connection between the jack-shaft and the vehicle wheel. One'form commonly used is an internal gear secured to the'vehicle wheel and the pinion upon the jack-shaft in mesh therewith. To protect the gearing and to retain the lubricant thereon a suitable housing is provided, but this necessitates the opening of the housing and the draining out of the lubricant whenever it is desired to remove Athe vehicle wheel. Furthermore, as usually constructed, the hub or mounting for the internal gear is oifset from the plane of the teeth so that the driving thrust of the pinion tends to tilt the said internal gear and necessitates a rigid mounting of the same upon the hub of the vehicle wheel. lVith the present invention the driving connection between the jack-shaft and the vehicle wheel permits of the removal and replacement of said vehicle wheel without disengagement of the driving gears or the opening of the housing in which they are inclosed. Also the construction is such that the gear Specation of Letters Patent. Patented jec. 27,1921.

Application filed March 8, 1917. Serial No. 153,519.

directly connected with the wheel hub is sup-` ported in the plane of the teeth, thereby avoiding any tendency to tilt in one direction or the other. ith the construction which is specifically shown, the p inions upon the jack-shaft are in mesh with spur-gears slidably mounted upon and keyed vto the wheel hub, and the housing for the gearing is arranged to hold the spur-gear in substantially concentric relation with the axle when the vehicle wheel is removed, so as to facilitate replacement and rengagementof said wheel.

. Another feature ofv my improved construction is themeans employed for mounting the jack-shaft.v This comprises a housing containing the journal bearings for said shaft which is laterally separably connected with the housing for the spur-gear and main axle,

so that the jaclcshaft may be removed with its housing.

In detail, A

housing H is so fashioned as to provide :r peripheral running clearance for the spur-v gear Gr, but at the same time retain said gear in substantially concentric relation to the axle independent of its mounting upon lthe hub D. This permits of first inclosing the gears in the housing H and subsequently sliding the hub D into the housing and engaging it with the gear-wheel G. 'The en gagement between the gear-wheel Gr and hub D is one which will transmit a driving` torque, being preferably a spline engagement, as indicated at L.

The housing H on the side ad] acent to the jack-shaft B has a segment thereof cut-away, and the ack-shaft is provided with a housing M forming a complementary segment secured to said housing H. As shown, the housings H and M have flanged faces O meeting along a vertical plane, but the cover is the main axle, BV is the j aclrshaft arranged parallel thereto, and C is 'the I of the housing H is extended to embrace both of the housings H and M and to form an additional tie-connection therebetween.

With the construction as shown, in assembling the parts, the gear-Wheel G is placed in the housing tl and the jackshaft and pinions F thereon are engaged with the housing M. The housings H and M are then secured to each other with the pinion F and and gear- Wheel G in mesh, after which the cover l is placed in' position and secured to both hous ings. rlhe veh'cle Wheel C may then be slipped upon the bearings E and E on the shaft A and telescopically engaged with the housing lil. The inner end of the hub l? is preferably tapered, as indicated at D', which will facilitate entrance in the bore of the gear-Wheel G, and as the latter .is held in substantially concentric relation by the housing E, engagement between the same and the hub D is easily effected. ln use, the driving torque is transmitted from the iachshatt through the pinion F to the spur-gear G and irom the latter through the splines L to the hub Dj By reason of the fact that the bearing oi" the gear-Wheel YGr upon the hub is in the plane of the teeth lP there will be no lateral thrust or tendency to tilt the gearevheel, which permits of a loose tit between said gear and the hub, facilitating removal and replacement. Thus Whenever necessary the Wheel (l may be removed Without disturbing the relation of the gear-Wheels Gr and F or opening the housing H, and also it' it is necessary to remove the jack-shaft thismay be accomplished by simply detaching the housing M from the housing H lVhat l claim as my invention is:`

l. The combination with an axle, of a jack-shaft arranged parallel thereto, a vehicle Wheel mounted on said axle, a pinion on said jack-shaft, a spur-gear in mesh with said pinion and arranged concentric to said axle, having a driving engagement With said vehicle Wheel, a housing on said axle inclosing said gear-Wheel, and a housing for said pinion forming a mounting for said jackshatt, detachably secured to said housing for the gear-Wheel.

2. The combination with an axle, of a jack-shaft arranged parallel thereto, a vehicle wheel mounted on said axle, a spur-gear transmission between said jacleshaft and axle, and a housing for sait gearing formed in laterally separable sections, permitting detachment and disengagement of said jackshatt independent of said vehicle Wheel.

3. The combination with an axle, oi jack-shaft arranged parallel thereto, a vehicle `Wheel mounted on said axle, a transmission between said ack-shaft and vehicle wheel including a spur-gear for driving the latter and a pinion in mesh With said gear mounted on said jack-shaft, and a housing ior said transmission :formed in laterallyseparable sections, one of said sections torming a mounting tor said jack-shaft and pinion and being disengageablc from the other section to permit ot` disengagement ot the jaclcshaft and pinion, independent of said spur-gear.

4t. rlhe combination With an axle and a jack-shaft arranged parallel thereto, ot' a vehicle Wheel mounted on said axle, a spur-gear for vdriving said vehicle Wheel, a pinion on said ack-shaft in mesh with said spur-gear, a housing on said axle for inclosing said spurgear havingl a cut-away segment, a housing Jor the jack-shaft and pinion forming a coml plementary segment detachably connected to the housing on the axle, and a removable cover common to both housings and forming a tie connection therebetween. Y ln testimony whereof l allix my signature.

ALANSON P.V BRUSH.

Yso 

